It is well known that long distance runners frequently utilize water bottle carriers for avoiding dehydration during long runs, especially during hot weather conditions. Such water bottle carriers are generally secured to the runner by a belt for fastening around the runner's waist. The carriers often also have zippered pockets for securing car keys, a wallet, or similar valuable personal property. In order to avoid irritating bouncing, to minimize contact with a runners hands adjacent the runner's abdomen while running, and to facilitate use of a securing buckle on the belt, known water bottle carriers for runners are typically employed with the water bottle positioned within a sleeve adjacent the runner's lower back and with a securing buckle of the belt adjacent the runner's abdomen.
Additionally, while some water bottle carriers support the bottle at ninety degrees or upright, in order to minimize irritating contact between the bottle and the lower back of the runner, it is known to align the sleeve of the carrier so that the bottle is at about a forty-five degree angle to the runner's back bone. This minimizes a vertical extension of the bottle adjacent the concave curve of the runner's lower back as opposed to an upright or vertical disposition. Such off-set or angled-sleeve water bottle carriers are most often aligned so that a top or spout of the water bottle is angled toward the runner's right shoulder to facilitate extraction and replacement of the water bottle by the majority of runners who are right-handed.
Known water bottle carriers also normally include a cushioned base upon which the sleeve is secured. The base usually also has a wide mesh cover for comfort and breathability. The base is typically secured between the bottle within the sleeve and the runner's back to cushion the bottle and avoid irritating rubbing of the bottle against the runner's back. The cushioning base must extend along the curved lower back of the runner a distance that is adequate to protect the runner's back along a complete vertical extension of the bottle within the sleeve. Therefore, the longer the vertical extension of the bottle up the runner's back, the longer the base must extend to protect the runner.
Consequently, there is a need for an efficient water bottle carrier for runners that may be readily used by both right-handed and left-handed runners; that minimizes a vertical extension of the carrier along the concave curve of a runner's lower back; and that does not significantly increase weight, bulk or cost of manufacture of such a water bottle carrier.